U.S. Navy Year in Review

A Global Force For Good

By Edward H. Lundquist - March 25, 2010

The wake from the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) slams against the side of the guided-missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville (CG 62) during a fueling-at-sea. The Obama administration’s missile defense policies will provide for modernization of Aegis cruisers to include BMD capability. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Kathleen Gorby (Released)

Naval Special Warfare forces, including SEALs and Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewmen (SWCC), are currently deployed in more than 40 countries around the world, and continue their sustained combat operations in the Central Command area of operations. Riverine Group One has received two of six armed, high-speed riverine command boats (RCBs) capable of day and night operations.

The Navy is also moving ahead with unmanned systems, including several unmanned aircraft systems. The Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) program is a high-altitude, long-endurance system that will provide persistent maritime and littoral intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR). The BAMS aircraft can fly long distances to operate on station for 24 hours or more, providing ISR to fleet and combatant commanders. The MQ-8B Fire Scout Vertical Take-off Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (VTUAV) can operate from smaller ships such as LCS to provide ISR and communications relay. The Small Tactical UAS (STUAS) will provide tactical ISR capability for Naval Special Warfare, LSD 41-class ships, Naval Expeditionary Combat Command, and Marine Corps squad- and platoon-size units. The Navy Unmanned Combat Air System (N-UCAS) will be a large carrier-based UAV to conduct combat missions in high-threat airspace.

Fleet Cyber Command and the U.S. 10th Fleet stood up in October, charged with achieving information dominance in cyber warfare.

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced that female officers could report to submarines in 2011.

The Navy will deploy Freedom in early 2010 to the Southern Command area of focus and Pacific Command AOR ahead of her originally scheduled maiden deployment. Every aspect of the littoral combat ship and program is new, from the operational concepts, the crew training and certification, to the support and sustainment. LCS will be a key component of the 21st century Navy. The early deployment of LCS 1 is a tremendous opportunity to begin the essential integration of the littoral combat ship into the fleet. The lessons that the Navy is learning from accelerating the deployment will inform the larger LCS Fleet Integration Strategy.

Afloat, ashore, or in the air, aboard ships new and old, large and small, the U.S. Navy covered the oceans as a global force for good.